Study: Christians in west Europe less tolerant of immigrants

BERLIN – A new study suggests Christians in western Europe are less accepting of immigrants and non-Christians than people without religious affiliations.

The Pew Research Center report issued Tuesday concludes that Christians are more likely than western Europeans who don’t identify with a religion to express negative views of Muslims, Jews and migrants.

The study is based on a telephone survey of 24,599 adults in 15 countries. Pew researchers compared the attitudes of respondents who described themselves as practicing Christians, non-practicing Christians and religiously unaffiliated, including atheists and agnostics.

The researchers say the survey results revealed that “undercurrents of discomfort with multiculturalism are evident in Western European societies.”

One of their findings is that ethnic Europeans as a whole hold “mixed views on whether Islam is compatible with their country’s values and culture.”